Chambers wrote:
> It makes sense when your primary source of revenue comes from service 
> contracts. 

Actually, it makes a lot more sense when your primary source of revenue 
isn't software at all. Sun gives away Java because they make their money 
selling hardware.

> Give away the thing you're servicing / supporting, and 
> suddenly you've a lot more potential customers.

That really only works well if the software sucks to start with. If it's 
well documented and easy to use and just plain works, you won't get too 
much business from service contracts. If it's all that and yet too 
complex for the customer to easily set up (think SAP), it's probably too 
complex to be cheap enough to maintain that you can afford to give it 
away in the first place.

If you're giving away the source, other contractors will just eat your 
lunch because they don't have your overhead.

It's a good thought that really doesn't work out as well as you might think.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Ever notice how people in a zombie movie never already know how to
  kill zombies? Ask 100 random people in America how to kill someone
  who has reanimated from the dead in a secret viral weapons lab,
  and how many do you think already know you need a head-shot?

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